An upper level trough of low pressure swung through the region causing a few widely scattered showers and thunderstorms to develop. A few of these thunderstorms were severe during the late afternoon and evening hours.
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Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS CLE wrote it up.
An upper level trough of low pressure swung through the region causing a few widely scattered showers and thunderstorms to develop. A few of these thunderstorms were severe during the late afternoon and evening hours.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Cleveland, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 13, 2:19 PM EST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 319 PM EDT WED AUG 13 2008 .SYNOPSIS... A WEAK TROUGH WILL DROP SOUTH INTO THE AREA TONIGHT THEN LINGER OVER THE REGION INTO THURSDAY NIGHT. AN UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER EASTERN CANAD WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BEGIN BUILDING IN FROM THE WEST ON FRIDAY AND THEN REMAIN OVER THE AREA INTO THE WEEKEND. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... TROUGH JUST NORTH OF LAKE ERIE WILL DROP SOUTH INTO THE AREA TONIGHT. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS NEAR THIS TROUGH OVER SOUTHERN ONTARIO THIS AFTERNOON. THERE IS POSSIBILITY OF SOME OF THESE STORMS MOVING SE INTO THE AREA THIS EVENING PRIMARILY EASTERN AREAS. BELIEVE MAIN THREAT WOULD BE THIS EVENING DIMINISHING WITH LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING. SO WILL CONTINUE WITH CHANCE POPS NORTHERN AREAS EARLY TONIGHT WITH SLIGHT CHANCE ELSEWHERE. && .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... TROUGH LINGERS OVER THE AREA THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER SWRN QUEBEC AND SERN ONTARIO AREA WILL HAVE A COUPLE S/W ROTATING AROUND IT. THIS ALONG WITH DAYTIME HEATING WILL CAUSE SOME SCATTERED SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS WHICH SHOULD THEN COULD LINGER INTO THURSDAY NIGHT. SURFACE TROUGH WEAKENS AND UPPER LEVEL S/W MOVES EAST EARLY ON FRIDAY. HOWEVER UPPER LEVEL LOW STILL CLOSE TO REGION AND 8H TEMPS DROP TO AROUND 8-10C FRIDAY. THERE SHOULD BE ENOUGH INSTABILITY WITH THESE FEATURES FOR A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS PRIMARILY OVER EASTERN AREAS. THEN HIGH PRESSURE START TO BUILD IN FROM THE EAST LATER FRIDAY AND SHOULD PROVIDE FAIR WEATHER FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY NIGHT. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... EXTENDED PORTION OF THE FORECAST SHOULD START OFF QUIET WITH HIGH PRESSURE IN CONTROL AT THE SURFACE. EVENTUALLY THE RIDGE WILL SLIDE EAST AND ALLOW FOR WARM ADVECTION/AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ON MONDAY BUT TEMPS SHOULD STILL BE AROUND NORMAL FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR. A COLD FRONT WILL DROP THROUGH THE LOWER GREAT LAKES REGION BY MID WEEK BUT BOTH THE GFS AND THE EURO SHOW THIS FRONTAL PASSAGE EVOLVING MORE SLOWLY THAN THEY DID YESTERDAY. KEPT POPS IN PLACE THROUGH TUESDAY AND INTO WEDNESDAY TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS SLOWER TIMING...OTHERWISE NO MAJOR CHANGES MADE TO THE PREVIOUS FORECAST. && .AVIATION /18Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... WEAK COLD FRONT STILL NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA WITH WEAK WARM ADVECTION-TYPE MID AND HIGH CLOUDS STREAMING IN FROM THE UPPER MIDWEST. GIVEN THE WEAK NATURE OF THE COLD FRONT AND LACK OF ABUNDANT SURFACE MOISTURE...NOT TERRIBLY EXCITED ABOUT THE PROSPECT OF WIDESPREAD TSRA DEVELOPING THIS AFTERNOON. WILL CARRY CBS AT ALL SITES BUT KEEP PRECIP OUT. OUTSIDE CHANCE THAT A LAKE BREEZE AROUND 20Z COULD INITIATE CONVECTION ALONG AND EAST OF A CLE-ERI LINE BUT HARD TO SAY IF STORMS WOULD AFFECT ANY GIVEN TERMINAL. CLOUDS AND ANY LINGERING PRECIP SHOULD DIMINISH AFTER SUNSET BUT MOISTURE WILL BE ON THE INCREASE. EXPECTING MVFR FOG AT MOST SITES OVERNIGHT...GRADUALLY MIXING BACK OUT TO VFR BY 12-14Z. COLD FRONT STALLS ACROSS CENTRAL OHIO TOMORROW MORNING WHICH COULD BE ENOUGH OF A FOCUS FOR SHOWERS TOWARD THE END OF THE TAF PERIOD. THINK THAT THE BEST SHOT FOR SHOWERS WOULD BE THE SOUTHERN SITES AND I INCLUDED VCSH AT FDY MFD AND CAK. ELSEWHERE I KEPT THE FORECAST DRY...CONFIDENCE IN MEASURABLE PRECIP NEAR THE LAKE IS TOO LOW TO INCLUDE IN THE FORECAST AT THIS POINT. OUTLOOK...ONCE THE COLD FRONT SLIDES THROUGH CENTRAL OHIO THURSDAY AFTERNOON...LOOKS LIKE HIGH PRESSURE WILL SETTLE OVERHEAD THROUGH MOST OF THE WEEKEND WITH VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED. POSSIBLE DISTURBANCE ON MONDAY WHICH COULD BRING NON-VFR CONDITIONS BUT ITS STILL A LONG WAY OUT. && .MARINE... ONSHORE FLOW WILL TURN TO THE SOUTH TONIGHT. WINDS TURN TO THE NNE THURSDAY...BUT THINK CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN BELOW SCA CRITERIA. BUT CONDITIONS WILL BECOME CHOPPY...ESPECIALLY FOR BOATERS ON THE WEST END OF LAKE ERIE. SURFACE HIGH BUILDS MOVES ACROSS THE LAKES OVER THE WEEKEND. NE FLOW DEVELOPS...BUT THINK WINDS SHOULD BE LIGHT. && .CLE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... OH...NONE. PA...NONE. MARINE...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...RANDEL NEAR TERM...RANDEL SHORT TERM...RANDEL LONG TERM...LEINS AVIATION...LEINS MARINE...DJB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 528 AM EDT WED AUG 13 2008 LEZ061-142>149-162>169-OHZ003-006>014-017>023-027>033-036>038-047- 089-PAZ001>003-140930- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM RIPLEY TO BUFFALO NY- MAUMEE BAY TO RENO BEACH OH-RENO BEACH TO THE ISLANDS OH- THE ISLANDS TO VERMILION OH-VERMILION TO AVON POINT OH- AVON POINT TO WILLOWICK OH-WILLOWICK TO GENEVA-ON-THE LAKE OH-GENEVA- ON-THE-LAKE TO CONNEAUT OH-CONNEAUT OH TO RIPLEY NY- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM MAUMEE BAY TO RENO BEACH- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM RENO BEACH TO THE ISLANDS- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM THE ISLANDS TO VERMILION- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM VERMILION TO AVON POINT- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM AVON POINT TO WILLOWICK- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM WILLOWICK TO GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE TO CONNEAUT- LAKE ERIE OPEN WATERS FROM CONNEAUT OH TO RIPLEY NY-LUCAS-WOOD- OTTAWA-SANDUSKY-ERIE OH-LORAIN-CUYAHOGA-LAKE-GEAUGA-ASHTABULA INLAND- HANCOCK-SENECA-HURON-MEDINA-SUMMIT-PORTAGE-TRUMBULL-WYANDOT-CRAWFORD- RICHLAND-ASHLAND-WAYNE-STARK-MAHONING-MARION-MORROW-HOLMES-KNOX- ASHTABULA LAKESHORE-NORTHERN ERIE-SOUTHERN ERIE-CRAWFORD PA- 528 AM EDT WED AUG 13 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR LAKE ERIE...NORTH CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHEAST OHIO...NORTHWEST OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:34 UTC.
2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Several reports were received during this time of hail ranging from penny to quarter size around the City of Norwalk.
Nickel size hail was reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Ohio in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, August 2008
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 130851, 130852.